Prince George, B.C. – British Columbia is welcoming 79 firefighting personnel from the Yukon, Saskatchewan and Ontario to assist B.C. crews with an anticipated increase in fire activity.

Twenty-one firefighters and one agency representative from the Yukon will arrive in Williams Lake today. An additional 20 firefighters and one agency representative from Saskatchewan will arrive in Abbotsford on Sunday. Also, 35 fire personnel and one agency representative from Ontario will arrive in Kamloops.

Placement of the arriving personnel will be determined based on current fire activity and anticipated need. It’s important to keep some firefighting crews on standby in all of B.C.’s fire centres in preparation for an anticipated increase in fire starts.

The Fire Danger Rating for the province is mostly "high", with some areas of "moderate" and many patches of "extreme". Hot and dry conditions are expected this weekend, with a risk of thunderstorm activity.